Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Today's Teamster News 09.24.13

Warehouse Workers in Georgia Join Teamsters Local 528  teamster.org   ...On September 11, warehouse workers at Americold in McDonough, Georgia voted to become Teamsters...
Teamsters at Darigold Leaflet Walmart & Sam's Club Shoppers at 10 Locations  Teamsters Local 117 ...Teamster production workers and lab technicians, employed by Darigold, distributed leaflets at ten Walmart and Sam’s Club locations throughout the day to inform consumers about the company’s multiple violations of federal labor law and the growing threat of a potential lockout or strike...
Wegmans Employees Disgruntled Over Retirement Payments  Rochester Homepage   ...Dozens of people were outside Wegmans' company officers Friday practicing picketing over disagreements with Wegmans on retirement payments and wages. Current warehouse and driver employees are represented through the Teamsters Union...
The Average American Family Pays $6,000 a Year in Subsidies to Big Business  AlterNet   ...That's more than an insult—it's an attack...
White House rebuffed union pleas to ditch Walmart  Salon   ...Labor leader says allies in the Administration tried to persuade First Lady to dump retail giant -- but were denied...
Bank of America goes to trial over U.S. mortgage fraud charges  Reuters   ...Bank of America Corp heads to trial this week over allegations its Countrywide unit approved deficient home loans in a process called "Hustle," defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the U.S. government enterprises that underwrite mortgages...
One Big Trader Lost Millions Betting on Romney, Study Finds  Washington Wire   ...A new academic paper digging into presidential betting in the final weeks of the 2012 election finds that a single trader lost between $4 million and $7 million placing a flurry of Intrade bets on Mitt Romney—perhaps to make the Republican nominee’s chance of victory appear brighter...
Child Labor Dropped By One-Third Over The Past Decade, But UN Officials Urge Faster Progress  Associated Press   ...The number of children doing hazardous work dropped by half to 85 million from 2000 to 2012, but the rate of progress isn't fast enough to meet the goal of having no child laborers by 2016...
Suicides Spiked One Year After Great Recession: Study  Huffington Post   ...The Great Recession resulted in 5,000 additional suicides worldwide in 2009, according to a recent study -- the first to look at suicide trends globally in the wake of the crisis...
At 77, He Prepares Burgers Earning in Week His Former Hourly Wage  Bloomberg News   ...At the height of his corporate career, Tom Palome was pulling in a salary in the low six-figures and flying first class on business trips to Europe. Today, he juggles two part-time jobs: one as a $10-an-hour food demonstrator, the other flipping burgers…
Why are 47 million Americans on food stamps?  Washington Post   ...There's a fairly basic question underlying the current food-stamp debate in Congress. Why has the program grown so rapidly over the past few years — to the point where 47 million people, one-sixth of the country, now receive food stamps?...
Buy a House, Make Your Payments, Then Discover You've Been Foreclosed On Without Your Knowledge  AlterNet   ...This should never happen, but it did, thanks to the sordid mortgage servicing industry...
Chiquita Asks Court To Block Suits Blaming Banana Giant For Violent Deaths  Associated Press   ...Faced with potentially billions of dollars in legal liability, Chiquita Brands is asking a federal appeals court to block lawsuits filed against it in the U.S. by thousands of Colombians whose relatives were killed in that country's bloody, decades-long civil war...
Ag-gag resurfaces, threatens whistleblowers  Fort Wayne Journal Gazette   ...Opponents of ag-gag legislation reasonably fear that it obstructs First Amendment rights. Such legislation also protects illegal and unethical practices while punishing whistleblowers...
Major police union will sit out race for New Jersey governor  Star-Ledger   ...In a blow to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono, one of New Jersey’s two largest police unions has decided to sit out the election for governor...
Florida offers to cut loan balances for 'underwater' homeowners  Orlando Sentinel   ...Florida homeowners with "underwater" mortgages may now qualify to have as much as $50,000 chopped from their loan balance under a new program announced Friday by the state...
Amazon to collect 6 pct sales tax in WV  Associated Press   ...Amazon will start collecting a 6 percent sales tax on purchases shipped to West Virginia starting Oct. 1...
BART prepares for another possible worker strike  Associated Press   ...As another potential strike looms, Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are preparing other ways to get commuters to work, including possibly allowing managers to drive a limited number of trains...